This invention relates to a process of color stabilization of a diesel fuel containing rare earth metals and oxygenated compounds which effectively reduce exhaust emissions of diesel fueled internal combustion engines and, more particularly, to the use of rare earth metal compounds to reduce the amount of particulates in diesel engine exhaust emissions.
Diesel fueled internal combustion engines give off particulates in the exhaust which may be harmful pollutants. These particulates are both particles seen as visible smoke and also are those particles which are invisible but still present in the diesel exhaust. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has recently determined that diesel powered automobiles emit unacceptably high levels of air pollution and the levels of particulate emissions must be reduced to about 0.2 gram per mile by 1985. Presently most diesel engines used in automobiles will probably exceed this limit.